You touch me
Your fingers closing
And opening
Lightly
Over the holes
The openings
And orifices
Of my body

You place
Your mouth
Over mine
And blow
Softly
The breath of life
Fills me
Inflates me
Brings me alive

You play me
I am
Your flute
Wooden
In my flesh
The notes you find
Float
Delicately
Achingly
Dancing on unseen currents
Like the smoke and smell
Of incense from India
Lingering
Before being carried off
Into your silence

Your sitar
It’s metallic notes
Cut me
Like King Solomon’s
Sword of truth
Revealing
Who rightly owns
This child of mine
Borne all these years
Alone

The buzz
Of it’s electric wires
Carves me
A butcher’s band saw
Ripping me
From one end
To the other
You lay me open
Down the middle
The flesh
The bones

Reaching in
As hunter, as killer
Victor
Owner of me
Your hand touches
Then pulls out
My heart
You hold it high
Turning it
For me to see
To know
To feel once again
While you squeeze

Played together
This flute
That sitar
I become, willingly
The sacrificial lamb
On your altar
Of rite
And reverence
Hung now
Upside down
To bleed out
This blood spilled
In anger
Hate
Revenge
Blood I have tasted
As the wolf
Living in sheep’s clothing

You hang me
By my heels
With one hand
In the other
You hold my heart
You marry me
To myself
What was once taken
Now given back

At last
You spank me
Like a baby
To come to life
To breathe the air
That others breathe
To welcome me
To this other world

Lie down here
In my lap
Go slack against
My strong back
Lift up these leaves
Pull them over you
As your blanket

Look and let this sun
Touch and smooth over
Your cheek and brow
Warm hands hold and frame your face
The day holds you in its one eyed gaze
While my limbs cast cooler shadows on this place

Each tree comes in threes like thee
As we stand in morning sun with you
This tree itself
The shadow it lays before you, then moves all day
And its shape cast in frost while still night
An icy outline laid out on the ground
For the sun to melt
Weeping away at the edges
While slowly exposed to light

Touch too these layered stones
Grey and granite iced
White marble is the other slice
Both dark and light are life
Equal here, each to hold you, both can mark your path
Lie down here
In my lap
Pull them over you
As your blanket
It’s time, this place
To rest in peace

You lift
The lock
Oversized
Heavy in your hands
Whose fingers could turn and twist this?

The chains
Thick
Crossed over
Back and forth then back again
Enough to hold a ship
Whose arms could lift them?

The door
Monstrous
Shut tight
On hinges
Not meant to swing open
Whose shoulder could pry or bend it?

You stand
Alone
Head hung
Solemn
This test beyond you
No cracks, no holes
To see what’s beyond you

Is the promise withheld?
The journey ended?
Why, when you have heard
The singing
In your dreams
Every now and then

Beyond gates and chains
Lie you dreams
Beyond gates and chains
New seeds of life float
On warm currents of words
Of Love
Whispered
You need only reach out to touch
To hold and in your hand
The seed will grow

Beyond gates and chains
Lie your dreams
Beyond gates and chains
New streams of life
Wander down hill sides
As if going in and out of pews
Bending your knee to sip
It is a thirst you have not know before
The taste is your life
You need only kneel
And drink deeply
For the water in you to flow

All things
That have the ability to Arise
Have also in them
The capacity
For Passing Away

This day
This sun
The fog
Mist
Dew on the grass
Blue air
This Season of Summer
And the next one of Fall
This evenings full moon
All Arising
All Passing Away

These late Blackberries
Tomatoes still in the field
The green houses
Barn shed
Drives and paths
Birds of the sky
Chickens in the hen house
All Arising
All Passing Away

This farm
It’s farmers
This town
And community
The villages
Homes
Businesses
All those in it we know
And those we don’t
Arising
And Passing Away

All nations
And countries
Politics and parties
Perspectives and beliefs
Views, notions and opinions
The doers of good
And the doers of evil
All Arising
All Passing Away

These sands
This beaches
The waves
One Tsunami
Coastal villages
Hurricanes
All islands
Ice and snow
Rain, mud
Heat, cold
Storm and calm
Each one Arising
Each one Passing Away

Reactors
And trains
All cars
And Planes
Buildings and
Armies
Their Hate
Your Love
This Peace
That War
Their Youth, Our Age
All Wisdom and Ignorance
Wealth, Poverty
Happiness, Sadness
Sickness, Health
All Arising
All Passing Away

All these things have the capacity
This step
This breath
This moment
This Touch, Sound, Smell
This Vision
All these
The capacity
For Arising
And for Passing Away